Electromagnetism hazards?

I have constructed an EMP emitter device via some plans.. then i jacked it up to give it some more power. but, alas, i have scared myself. It is just a straight up electromagnet pulse generator, no microwaves or anything else (i am assuming, unless it generates them and i don't know yet... fill me in please, lol), should i fear turning it on for having any physical effects on me or others? I built it as a project for a class, but i may not use it if there is... please, inform me if anyone knows. Any online search has just yielded vague answers.

Staff: Mentor

If you haven't blown any circuit breakers in your house, you're not putting out enough energy to worry about. And besides requiring a decent amount of power, you need high energy radiation (microwaves won't do it) to do any real damage.

It is possible to take ordinary household power and turn it into an xray source, or at least nasty UV.

Are you using a transformer to get high DC voltages, charging capacitors in parallel, then switching them to series? You can get some very high-energy electrons this way that could produce UV or xrays.

quote:
Originally posted by Leonardo
... two electromagnets, stack one on top of the other so that ... they will repel ... how far can you separate them?
That is virtually unlimited, unless the magnetic field doesn't extend out to infinity.

quote:
Originally posted by Leonardo
how much current will it take for maximum separation ?
Maximum current.

quote:
Originally posted by Leonardo
what difference does it make if they each way one gram or ten tons?
Gravity. There are several latent forces going on here. First, let's get some perspective. If these two inactive coils are all alone out in empty space, then it will take some fixed, and extremely small, amount of energy for them to escape each other. In this case, they would separate to infinity (which is a large separation) without even turning the magnets on. OK, perspective established. Now, on Earth, sitting on a table, these two magnets are accelerating at 9.8 m/s2. The "bottom" magnet (the one closer to the center of the earth) is being accelerated by the table top. It in turn accelerates the other magnet in front of/on top of it by pushing on it. How does this pushing occur? Electrostatics, so they say. What they also say is that there is no such thing as contact because of this mechanism. What it seems you want to do is to exaggerate this lack of contact as much as possible. The reason there is close proximity is that the bottom magnet is accelerating the top magnet. Less force is required to accelerate a smaller weight for a given amount of force. The magnetism will provide a given amount of force. So, the mass matters.
ote:
Originally posted by Leonardo
Lets say the magnets are stacked vertically at 1,000 feet above sea level on a New-Mexico lime stone Plato. Each of the one ton magnets coils receive an equal amount of current simultaneously. How much power would lift the upper magnet? How high could the average lightning bolt lift the magnet if at all? (Approximately)
You need to be more specific than this. The issue of altitude and location on the Earth is pretty insignificant.

You can think of the magnetic force between the coils two ways: 1) use the biot-savart law, 2) treat them as bar magnets to first order, or something else to higher order. Either way, though, you should specify your geometry.

1 ton magnet will require 1 ton of force to overcome the acceleration of gravity that is already present. Any extra force will lift the magnet. The magnet will be lifted until the force from the magnetic field drops down to 1 ton (roughly). Without specifics, this is too complicated to generalize in more detail.

I am unfamiliar with the biot-savart law , for that mater unfamiliar with the particular behaviors and formulas needed for the precise forecasting of magnetic behavior beyond the very rudimentary . I am though quite curious about the feasibility of introducing the current of a lightning bolt to these two magnets ( simultaneously ) what ever their dimensions. What do you think I might witness upon the introduction and in the aftermath?

i had originally planned on charging cells in a series then coverting them to parallel with a projected pulse at around 50kv (not anything TOO dangerous). i have another way i can do it with a constant supply at around 30kv with no cell charging involved.
i am just wondering if 50kv or even 30kv is enough to cause some high energy rays (UV, x, whatever else). and what can i do to protect myself and other members involved in this project (small work team of 5 people) from these rays?

Originally posted by russ_watters If you haven't blown any circuit breakers in your house, you're not putting out enough energy to worry about. And besides requiring a decent amount of power, you need high energy radiation (microwaves won't do it) to do any real damage.

My microwave oven doesn't blow circuit breakers and I wouldn't want to be on the business end of that!

A while back, I briefly looked into microwave hazards (emitted from doppler radar towers). Turns out there is not much research about it. Seemed there wasn't much known risk other than heating...although there may have been some concern about damage to corneas.

Staff: Mentor

Originally posted by Phobos My microwave oven doesn't blow circuit breakers and I wouldn't want to be on the business end of that!

A while back, I briefly looked into microwave hazards (emitted from doppler radar towers). Turns out there is not much research about it. Seemed there wasn't much known risk other than heating...although there may have been some concern about damage to corneas.

I think the damage to corneas risk was a heating risk: and also an urban legend. And there is quite a bit of research out there about microwaves and health risks - the military researched it exhaustively when radar was first invented.

I must be telepathic or something though (don't tell Ivan ), because for some reason this thread popped into my head today. I'm thinking even if you rigged your microwave to operate with the door open, it still couldn't possibly do anything to you: the microwaves aren't focused enough to burn you unless you stand right up against it. And even then, with all your mass (no offense), I don't think it'd be capable of heating you up enough to burn you. Think about it: girls point hairdryers directly at their heads every day, and a hairdryer has a higher and more concentrated output than a typical microwave.

Now, I wouldn't want to stand in front of a fire control radar though: they shoot a couple of megawatts down a very narrow beam.

Originally posted by russ_watters
I'm thinking even if you rigged your microwave to operate with the door open, it still couldn't possibly do anything to you... Think about it: girls point hairdryers directly at their heads every day...